Tackling local organised crime groups: lessons from research in two UK cities

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-449
Author(s):  
Ruth Crocker ◽  
Sarah Webb ◽  
Michael Skidmore ◽  
Sarah Garner ◽  
Martin Gill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organised Crime ◽  
Organised Crime Groups

Colombian border violence will Venezuela worsen crisis

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Armed Forces ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
Border Crossings ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Criminal Violence ◽  
Organised Crime Groups

Significance The closure of border crossings since March 2020 has fuelled violent competition for control of lucrative informal crossings (trochas) and frontier towns. However, the Venezuelan military is ill-prepared to deal with the expanding presence of Colombia’s irregular armed groups. Recent incursions highlight weaknesses in the Venezuelan armed forces, which have suffered casualties. Impacts The penetration of organised crime groups into Venezuela’s disintegrating state and economy will continue to intensify. Organised criminal violence coupled with the violence of military operations will fuel displacement, COVID and civilian casualties. A speedy, negotiated solution to Venezuela’s political impasse is needed to preclude fusion with Colombia’s own protracted insurgency.

Terrorism, organised crime and threat mitigation in a globalised world

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 951-961
Author(s):  
Yara El Siwi
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
Global Networks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Subsequent Section ◽  
Threat Mitigation ◽  
Organised Crime Groups ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Substantial Interest

Purpose The gruesome attacks of 11 September 2001 signalled a powerful paradigm shift in international politics: governments previously accustomed to military menaces were now being increasingly threatened by independent, non-state actors. Consequently, a plethora of literature emerged, looking to better understand the nature of these actors. An aspect that has attracted substantial interest is the inter-relation between terrorism and organised crime (OC). This paper aims to answer the question as to whether, for the purpose of controlling and mitigating the threat they pose to society, there is meaning in differentiating between terrorist organisations (TOs) and organised crime groups (OCGs). Design/methodology/approach The first section of the paper will provide an account of the various kinds of threats posed by OCGs and TOs. The subsequent section will question whether it is possible, in today’s globalised era, to distinguish between these two actors, while the last sections will ask if such a differentiation is desirable. Findings OCGs and TOs display a clear divergence: the former’s motivation is financial while the latter’s political. With the end of the Cold War, however, each type of organisation has been building up the capabilities of the other, helped by the force of global networks. As such, these two actors now exist within the same body – a continuum – that renders their separation difficult. As to the question of desirability, the separation of the two phenomena has often led to the adoption of highly disproportionate militarised and securitised measures, resulting in a dangerous blending of law enforcement and security service methodology. Originality/value Many have argued for the separation of the “terrorist” from the “criminal”, on the grounds that the former is particularly heinous and deserving of more severe measures. Others have studied the evolution of these two phenomena to understand whether the lines separating them have been blurring and the extent to which this affects law-enforcement. This paper goes beyond notions of feasibility and poses the following question: has the traditional separation of these phenomena led to a desirable regime?

“It's a Vicious Game”

2016 ◽  
pp. 192-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dev Rup Maitra
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
British Society ◽  
Street Gangs ◽  
Surrounding Area ◽  
Gainful Employment ◽  
Youth Delinquency ◽  
Group Violence ◽  
Organised Crime Groups ◽  
High Level

This chapter explores the activities and characteristics of street gangs and organised crime groups in contemporary British society. Although numerous studies exist which investigate youth delinquency and group violence in Britain, there is less research which specifically investigates contemporary British criminal gangs - carrying out such an exploration is the organising principle of this chapter. Through conducting qualitative research at an adult men's prison in England and its surrounding area, this chapter attempts to articulate the experiences of prisoners and street-offenders on this subject. The results illustrate the entrenched role street gangs and organised crime groups hold in certain areas of England; not only are they seen as viable alternatives to gainful employment, but their activities are often sanctioned by the communities within which they are based. Subsequently, a high level of violence is normalised within such communities, including heightened levels of weapon usage by gang members, both within and outside prison.

scholarly journals PROTOCOL: Organised crime groups: A systematic review of individual‐level risk factors related to recruitment

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Calderoni ◽  
Elisa Superchi ◽  
Tommaso Comunale ◽  
Gian Maria Campedelli ◽  
Martina Marchesi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Organised Crime Groups

Beyond ghosts, gangs and good sorts: Commercial cannabis cultivation and illicit enterprise in England’s disadvantaged inner cities

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Ancrum ◽  
James Treadwell
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Rapid Growth ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
Significant Decline ◽  
Inner Cities ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Commercial Cultivation ◽  
Job Opportunities ◽  
Organised Crime Groups ◽  
Shed Light

This article focuses on the commercial cultivation of cannabis in England. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork with organised crime groups in disadvantaged locales, we argue that the rapid growth of cannabis cultivation is not the preserve of ‘ghosts, gangs and good sorts’. Rather, these new markets reflect significant socio-cultural and technological transformations and the involvement of independent entrepreneurial criminals who, for the most part, come from impoverished neighbourhoods that have experienced, in recent years, a significant decline in legitimate job opportunities. This article offers new empirical data that shed light upon the organisation of commercial cannabis cultivation. It also challenges dominant academic accounts of these markets.

scholarly journals Organised food crime: an analysis of the involvements of organised crime groups in the food sector in England and Italy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Rizzuti
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Corporate Crime ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Green Criminology ◽  
Food Sector ◽  
Institutional Perspective ◽  
Food Fraud ◽  
Conceptual Clarity ◽  
Organised Crime Groups

AbstractThe food sector is subject to illegal practices of various types such as adulteration or exploitation of labour. In the media and public discourse, this phenomenon is often associated to activities by organised crime groups. Drawing on a socio-legal empirical study on the perception and conceptualisation of food crime in English and Italian public institutions, this paper unpacks the involvement of organised crime and mafia-type actors in the food sector. Considering data collected through in-depth interviews with representatives of law enforcement and other public authorities, supported by documentary sources, this research points out that, from both an institutional perspective that narrowly conceptualises as food crime as food fraud, as well as from a wider perspective that addresses other practices happening in the food sector, organised crime is involved in food crime. By referring to the English and Italian cases, and by merging different bodies of literature, such as green criminology and enterprise theory, this article advocates for conceptual clarity when referring to the involvement of corporate crime, organised crime and mafia-type groups active in the food sector. In so doing, it presents and reflects upon ‘organised food crime’ as a new socio-legal category and highlights its policy outcomes.

scholarly journals Hiding in Plain Sight: Directed Surveillance as a Bodily Practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-506
Author(s):  
Johanne Yttri Dahl ◽  
Dag Svanaes
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
The Body ◽  
Phenomenology Of Perception ◽  
Optimal Distance ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Bodily Practice ◽  
Surveillance Practice ◽  
Organised Crime Groups ◽  
Material Bodies

In this article, we empirically explore directed surveillance as bodily practice—material bodies observing other material bodies. Such low-tech police surveillance practice (Haggerty 2012) relies on a police officer’s body as a tool and medium for information gathering. The theoretical framework used in this article is inspired by Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception and the body (Merleau-Ponty [1945] 2005). The empirical starting point for our analysis is in-depth interviews with police officers conducting directed surveillance of mobile organised crime groups, supplemented by some observations. Findings illustrate how police officers conducting directed surveillance have internalised advanced perceptual and bodily skills that enable them to keep an optimal distance from the subject of their surveillance, suppress bodily responses, stay in character to protect their cover story, and appear relaxed when they are, in fact, vigilant. With this article we aim to contribute to increased knowledge and more precise discussions concerning the tacit and corporeal aspects of directed surveillance.

Part III Other Relevant International Regimes and Issues, 16 Transnational Organised Crime and Cybercrime

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brodowski Dominik
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Hierarchical Structure ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
International Regimes ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
The Core ◽  
New Form ◽  
Organised Crime Groups ◽  
Case Basis

Cybercrime has not only become a new form of organised crime, in which a network of independent perpetrators cooperate on a case-by-case basis without an enduring, hierarchical structure, but is also gaining increasing attention from traditional organised crime groups. With cybercrime easily crossing geographical borders, a closer look at the international law framework on the fight against cybercrime is warranted, including but not limited to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime. This chapter focuses on cyber-related aspects of substantive criminal law, criminal procedure, and jurisdiction, as well as an analysis of the core challenges and typical phenomena of cybercrime.

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